


Ah, Curses!

by ObscureReference



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Curses, Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, Magical Realism, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 15:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8107543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: It took Chowder longer than it probably should have to realize the Haus was cursed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be a Chowder/Nursey story, but it felt kind of forced in at the end, so I dropped that. But if I ever continue this some day, that would be endgame. For now it's gen and pre-relationship. Hints only if you squint.
> 
> Enjoy!

It took Chowder longer than it probably should have to realize the Haus was cursed.

\---

“You have dirt on your face,” Chowder said after Nursey tripped over his own shoelaces for the third time that day.

Nursey rubbed at the bridge of his nose absently. “I do?”

The dirt wasn’t surprising. Nursey had fallen on his face enough times that afternoon to warrant a little filth, and he hadn’t exactly looked his best when Chowder had run into him earlier that morning. The edges of his jeans were more frayed than usual, his shirt a little more rumpled. His shoelaces had come undone more than once, despite the fact Chowder had watched Nursey double-knot them twice.

He had been more than a little distracted when Chowder had run into him that morning. Not that Chowder blamed him. He figured he would be sad too if he had spilled milk all over his backpack and notes at breakfast. It had not been Nursey’s lucky day.

“Yeah, right here.” Chowder tapped the side of his nose and dragged his finger across his cheekbone, mimicking the smudge of dirt that spanned just over an inch on Nursey’s face. When Nursey failed to wipe it away, he said, “I’ll get it.”

Chowder swiped his thumb across Nursey’s skin and frowned when the dirt didn’t come off. He tried again. It did not work the second time.

Then he licked his thumb, ignoring Nursey’s small protest of “ _Dude_ ” as he wiped Nursey’s face clean. This time it worked. His thumb felt kind of warm when he pulled away, a little tingly, but when Chowder checked, there was no dirt on his finger. The tingling faded after a moment.

“Thanks,” Nursey said as he started to walk away.

“Your shoelaces are still untied,” Chowder pointed out.

“Oh.” Nursey stopped. “Thanks.”

When Chowder found him later, Nursey reported that he had stayed upright the rest of the day. Chowder told him triple-knotting his shoelaces had been a good idea. Nursey grinned and playfully shoved at his shoulder.

\---

It took Chowder longer than it probably should have to realize the Haus was cursed.

In his defense, it took almost his whole life to realize he could see curses.

\---

“I just don’t understand,” Bitty moaned, scratching a patch of brown away from the corner of the oven door with his thumb nail. “I clean Betsy just about _every_ day. How could she be rusting so fast?”

“I’m sorry, Bitty,” Chowder said. “Maybe it’s because she’s just old?”

Ransom nodded in agreement, waving his hamburger in the oven’s direction before taking a large bite. Ketchup dripped down his chin. “Bits, that oven has probably been here since this place was built. I’d be more surprised if it _wasn’t_ falling apart. It probably _wants_ to rust at this point.”

Bitty looked scandalized. “Don’t even say that! And please swallow, you’re spitting food all over my kitchen.”

Ransom swallowed and reached for a napkin.

“I’m just saying,” he said. “The Haus is kind of shit.”

“It’s part of its charm,” Holster added, walking through the doorway. “Is Dex here yet? That pipe upstairs is leaking again.”

“I think he said he’d be stopping by soon?” Chowder offered. He hoped he was remembering that right. He pulled out his phone just to be sure but tucked it away as soon as he heard the front door open. “Oh, I think that’s him.”

He stuck his head through the kitchen doorway and waved to catch Dex’s eye. “Dex! Holster says that pipe upstairs is leaking again!”

Dex sighed and muttered something about dibs. He dropped his backpack by the front door and trudged upstairs.

Holster pointed at the to the plate of beef patties near the stove.

“Are these for everyone?” he asked as he grabbed two with his bare hand. Bitty made a face. A few fat drops of grease landed on the floor before Holster found the open bag of hamburger buns on the counter.

Chowder offered the paper towel roll to Bitty. Bitty took it with a grateful smile.

“This place is bad enough without y’all adding to it,” Bitty said, eyeing Ransom and Holster as he wiped up the mess.

Chowder figured that was just the way the Haus was. It was old and crooked. There was always a little too much grime to be acceptable. Betsy was always breaking, the porch overhang always leaked, the stairs creaked louder by the day. That was just the way the Haus was—full of cobwebs and sagging wood. Shitty told him it added to the charm of the place, and Chowder didn’t disagree. The Haus belonged to the team, and he liked the people in it. The Haus was what it was.

\---

“You _have_ to stay outside!”

“I _know_! That’s why I’m out here!”

“Well, Dex, I always knew you were a bit of a downer—“

“This isn’t funny, Nursey!”

There was a lot of shouting coming from around the Haus as Chowder walked up. Across the street, what seemed to be half the LAX team howled with laughter in their front yard. Chowder steadfastly ignored them the way Bitty had taught him to do and rounded the side of the house, which was where most of the yelling seemed to be coming from.

When Chowder made it to the backyard, he had to blink a few times to make sure what he was seeing was true.

Dex was the first thing that caught his attention. It was hard not to notice him.

Dex stood in an ever-growing puddle of mud in the grass. His arms were crossed, and he looked absolutely the most miserable Chowder had ever seen him. His wet hair was plastered to his forehead. It was no wonder as to why. Floating about a foot above Dex’s head was a miniature cloud that was _drenching_ Dex with rain. His clothes were soaked. He had obviously been like this for a while.

Bitty stood on the far side of the porch. He didn’t seem to notice Chowder’s arrival, too caught up with looking out across the backyard and worrying at his lower lip. Nursey slouched against the Haus wall, looking a little more amused at the situation than Chowder thought was necessary.

Holster stood near the edge of the porch, his hands on his hips, clearly focused on how to fix whatever had caused the raincloud.

“A little water never hurt anybody,” Nursey offered. “You’ll be fine.”

Dex scowled. Water dripped from the end of his nose. “Yeah, real easy for you to say.”

“What if we blew the cloud away?” Holster suggested. “Do we have any fans?”

“That sounds like the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” Dex said, rolling his eyes. He caught sight of Chowder. “Hey, Chowder.”

“Hi,” Chowder said. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the raincloud. Something in his chest twitched.

“Oh!” Bitty said, noticing Chowder for the first time. “Chowder, come over here. Don’t get near Dex.”

“Why?” Chowder asked, already moving onto the porch to obey. Bitty shuffled him to the back of the group.

“Because Dex got cursed by one of the LAX bros today, and we don’t know if its contagious or not,” Bitty said. He looked between Dex and Holster. “Should we call somebody?”

“A lot of curses fade on their own,” Nursey said. He shrugged. “It’ll probably go away in a few hours.”

 _“Hours?”_ Dex repeated. He looked ready to go over and fight the entire LAX team himself. Chowder winced.

“But we don’t know that for sure,” Bitty said. “Doesn’t the school have curse breakers on hand for things like this? Dex can’t go to class!”

“It’s Friday,” Nursey said.

“He can’t go to practice!”

“Plus he could get sick,” Holster added. He sighed. “All right, I’ll call. I didn’t want to give the LAX-holes the satisfaction of watching us pull out the big guns, but we gotta do what we gotta do. Somebody pull up Samwell’s help page.”

Nursey pulled out his phone. “On it.”

“Good.” Bitty nodded. “Chowder, come back here, please.”

Chowder had gravitated to the edge of the porch without thinking about it. He stopped an inch shy of stepping onto the grass, but he didn’t step back. He still couldn’t tear his eyes away from the raincloud floating only a few inches above Dex’s head.

“It’s not contagious,” he said.

“What?” Bitty said.

“It’s not contagious,” Chowder repeated. “We’re not going to catch it.”

Holster eyed him. “How do you know that?”

Chowder shrugged. Something prickled in the back of his mind, and his eyes zeroed in on the dark stain on Dex’s shoulder.

“Dex,” Chowder said. “Turn around.”

Dex looked curious but spun around without questioning. Chowder saw it then. There was a shadow of a handprint on his shoulder, like someone had quickly patted his back as they walked by. It was clearly the curse’s origin point. Chowder wasn’t sure how he knew that, but it _felt_ true.

He ignored Bitty’s protests and Holster’s startled questions as he walked off the porch and into the raincloud’s spray. The rain was chilly, and Chowder felt sorry that Dex had been standing in freezing cold rain all this time. He reached up.

He peeled off the black curse the same way he would peel a sticker off a sheet. It came away easily enough, entirely whole. For a moment Chowder was stuck holding an outline of a handprint between his fingertips, wondering what to do with it, but then the curse literally fell apart in his hands like a wet piece of paper.

Most of the curse blew away in the wind, and what didn’t get carried off in the breeze turned into some kind of flaky residue that landed in the mud puddle beneath his feet and immediately evaporated.

Chowder realized the rain had stopped. When he looked up, the raincloud was gone, and everyone else was staring at him.

\---

“It looked like you were just touching air,” Nursey told him later. “You grabbed the back of Dex’s shirt and then, bam. No more rain.”

“Oh,” Chowder said. The stain had seemed obvious to him. But he guessed things would have been a lot simpler if everyone had been able to see it.

Nursey nudged him with his elbow. “It’s cool, C. Who knew we had a curse breaker on the team?”

Chowder certainly hadn’t.

\---

It took Chowder longer than it probably should have to realize the Haus was cursed.

In his defense, he hadn’t been _looking_ for a curse on the Haus. The Haus was great! Even though the roof leaked and the walls were paper thin and the doorway to the backyard had settled crooked. The Haus had the team and Bitty’s cooking and warm memories. He hadn’t expected it to be cursed.

The curse on the Haus was old and brittle. It was not terribly strong, which accounted for why Chowder hadn’t noticed it at first. Whoever had set the curse on the Haus either hadn’t been a very good spell caster or had intended for it to be subtle. Either way, not all small curses disappeared with time. And Chowder didn’t plan on just leaving it alone. It had to go.

He had settled on that thought— _it had to go_ —about a week before he actually got around to doing it.

First there had been classes. Then there had been practice and an away game, and then Nursey had complained that his ankle was a bit sore, and there was no way Chowder was going to let him walk around on it all day. They’d be down a d-man! So then he had hung around Nursey all day, nervous that his sore ankle was going to turn into something worse, despite Nursey’s assurances that he should, “chill out.”

So, yeah. It took a while before Chowder got around to it. It wasn’t like the Haus had been _actively_ hurting anyone in the meantime. But it was better not to wait.

The hardest part was finding the origin point, the place the curse had first settled.

“Is there anything particular you’re looking at?” Bitty asked, an eyebrow cocked and rolling pin in hand as Chowder traced the tangled web of curse lines with his eyes. He thought it had been just dust at first, but the lines were clear now that he knew what to look for. They were thin but dark, resembling thin cracks that had been painted rather than etched onto the ceiling.

“Careful,” Bitty added as Chowder stumbled over his own backpack. It was hard to walk and follow the trail the curse had left at the same time.

Chowder smiled sheepishly. “Sorry!”

The curse on Dex had been new. It had been a clear, dark imprint against his bright shirt. The curse on the Haus was _old_. Older than Chowder, probably, and it had had time to spread across the Haus. Its origin, it’s starting point, wasn’t so clear anymore.

But Chowder was pretty sure he was narrowing down the places it could be. He had started in the attic, where the curse was the weakest, the walls the least dirtied, and worked his way downstairs. He was getting close.

Bitty set his baking tray aside.

“What are you looking at?” he asked again. There was a pause before he said, “Do you… Is there a curse?”

“Yeah,” Chowder said without looking away from the ceiling. “But it’s small, don’t worry!”

He followed the scratchy lines into the living room. The ceiling was darkest here, the curse thick, and Chowder had no idea how he hadn’t noticed before. Probably because the curse wasn’t that strong. The pull in his chest leading him to the curse wasn’t terribly strong either, and it had always been easy to assume the area by the front door had been so dirty because, well. _They_ were dirty. It was easy to track mud into the Haus and easier to avoid cleaning it up.

Bitty had followed him, frowning. “It isn’t the lacrosse team again, is it?”

“Oh, no,” Chowder assured him. “I think it’s been here for a while.” Maybe the curse had come from the lacrosse team years ago, but definitely not from the current one. “Don’t worry, Bitty, it’s nothing bad! I think it just makes the Haus, you know. A little dirtier.”

“Dirtier?” Bitty wrinkled his nose.

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Chowder said. “It’s hard to tell what it does. I think I’ve got it though.”

He was pretty sure he’d found the origin, at least. Dex’s curse had been a handprint, Nursey’s a smudge, and this one looked like a dust ball. It clung to the corner of the ceiling, the crevice where ceiling met wall, and Chowder easily stretched to his tiptoes to pluck it from its hiding space. It felt oddly heavy in his hands, despite its resemblance to a ball of thin, wispy yarn.

“Got you,” he said quietly. He felt Bitty’s eyes on him as he grabbed one of the curse’s strings and unraveled the ball. It quickly came undone and disappeared into thin air, fading from his sight.

“Oh,” Bitty breathed, like he had felt a change in the atmosphere.

“That wasn’t hard at all,” Chowder said.

Then he promptly hunched over and hurled all over the floor.

\---

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Chowder moaned for the twentieth time. Nursey was probably tired of hearing him apologize, but he couldn’t help it. “I didn’t know it’d make me sick! I thought it was really weak!”

Nursey shrugged and adjusted the damp cloth on Chowder’s head. His voice was low and soothing. “You said it was really old, right? Maybe it’s something to do with that.”

“Maybe,” Chowder allowed. He blinked, his eyelids heavy. An ugliness churned in his stomach, only a little lighter than when he’d first unraveled the curse earlier that day.

It wasn’t like there were guides for this sort of thing. It was easy to lay curses, but curse breakers were rarer, and it wasn’t like anybody had taught Chowder anything in the month since finding out he was one. Most curse breakers said their job was mostly “a gut feeling” anyway. A lot of being a goalie was instinctual to him too. Block the puck, dispel the curse. He thought it was mostly the same.

Apparently not.

“I’m not going to miss the next game, am I?” Chowder asked miserably. He really didn’t want to miss the next game.

“We’ll see how you feel by the end of the week.”

The end of the week. That was plenty of time to get better. Chowder wasn’t sure exactly how long the aftereffects would last, but he was pretty sure he’d be better by tomorrow. Or the day after, at the latest. He felt better now than he had earlier today, certainly.

Chowder looked at Nursey and his perch by Chowder’s bedside. “Do you think lifting the curse did anything?”

It hadn’t been very strong. He wondered if the curse had really been _doing_ anything or if the Haus was just really old and naturally busted and the real curse was to make whoever tried to get rid of it really sick.

“Bitty said he hasn’t found any new rust on Betsy today,” Nursey offered. “So that’s a first.”

“Maybe Dex can fix that leak upstairs permanently now.”

Nursey chuckled. “Maybe.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“C?” At Chowder’s hum of acknowledgement, Nursey continued, “As cool as it is for you to swoop in and cure everyone’s bad luck or whatever, I think I prefer you when you’re able to walk around and be our goalie.”

Chowder smiled. “Me too.”

“So next time you should tell us before you go around curing every curse in the world. I’m pretty sure you gave Bitty a heart attack.”

Chowder winced at the memory. “Sorry.”

Nursey shrugged. He placed his elbow at the edge of Chowder’s mattress, propping his head up and sagging forward in his seat.

“You don’t have to apologize,” he said. “Just, you know. Take care of yourself. Don’t do dumb stuff.”

“I will,” Chowder promised. “Wait—I won’t. Do dumb stuff, I mean. I _will_ take care of myself.”  

Nursey smiled for the first time since Chowder had relayed the events leading up to his illness. Chowder’s stomach lurched. Nursey, as if sensing his discomfort, adjusted the damp cloth again, which had slowly been growing warmer as the minutes passed.

“Cool,” Nursey said. He teased his lower lip between his teeth. “So. What do curses look like, anyway?”

Chowder began to tell him.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr at http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com if you want!


End file.
